In a sharp attack on India’s trade and energy policies, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro on Monday warned that New Delhi must align with Washington on trade negotiations or risk serious consequences.
He also labelled BRICS nations as ‘vampires’.
“I think India must come around at some point. And if it doesn’t, it’s laying down with Russia and China, and that won’t end well for India,” Navarro said in an interview with the Real America’s Voice show.
Describing India as the “Maharajah of tariffs,” he accused the Indian government of maintaining the “highest tariffs in any major country in the world against the United States.” He added, “We got to deal with that.”
Navarro also criticised India’s energy ties with Moscow after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “They never bought oil from Moscow before Russia invaded Ukraine, except for like little tiny drops of it. And then they go into this mode of profiteering with Russian refiners coming on to Indian soil and profiteering,” he alleged, adding that American taxpayers end up footing the bill for the conflict.
He further argued that “the road to peace partly runs through New Delhi,” urging India to stop Russian oil imports. “Europe certainly has to stop buying Russian oil… with China, we got over 50% tariffs on them, and we’re doing the best we can in terms of negotiating to protect the American people without hurting the American people. And that’s the Kabuki and the art of diplomacy that we’ve got going on. And you just got to trust in Trump.”
Highlighting US partnerships elsewhere, Navarro pointed to “great trade deals” with the European Union, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Indonesia. “All these countries are working very closely with us because they realise that they’ve been taking too much advantage of the US and also because they need American markets,” he said.
Turning his ire toward the BRICS grouping, Navarro predicted its collapse, declaring, “I don’t see how the BRICS alliance stays together since historically they all hate each other and kill each other.” He described their trade practices as “vampires” exploiting the US - “their exports, they’re like vampires sucking our blood dry with their unfair trade practices.”
He also drew attention to India’s security concerns with China, saying the two nations have been “at war for decades.” In a sarcastic remark, he noted, “And I just remembered, yeah, it was China that gave Pakistan a nuclear bomb. You got ships flying around the Indian Ocean now with Chinese flags. (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi, see how you kind of work that out.”
According to Navarro, Russia is also “in bed with China,” further complicating India’s geopolitical choices.
